2008 vintage selection (part 2)
We have a winner! Cask 4414, filled on March 7th, 1977, was recently chosen by an international panel gathered in Dufftown especially for the event.
The panel, led by our Malt Master, David Stewart, consisted of Gavin Smith, a whisky writer who has penned tens of books on the subject; Prof. Walter Schobert, the accomplished German author and journalist is highly regarded throughout Europe for his deep knowledge of the whisky industry; Erkin Touzmohamedov, widely recognized as Russia's foremost expert on Scotch whisky and Jimmy Bradley; owner and head chef of two award-winning New York restaurants – the Red Cat and the Harrison.
The panel’s day started with a tour of our distillery, so it wasn’t until after lunch when the panel members were able to discover the six casks which had been pre-selected by David.
Warehouses are unique environments which in my view, beat any beach in the sun, but the overwhelming smell of thousands of casks, does not provide the best condition for a vintage selection, so after a quick nose at the casks in the warehouse, we decided to move to a more appropriate venue.
The camera crews were on standby to capture everybody’s comments and after 3 hours’ deliberation, the panel chose cask number 4414 for its ‘exceptionally rich and complex character’.
The official nosing and tasting notes will be released when the cask is emptied for bottling in the next few weeks but the words citrus, leather and malt were uttered on several occasions…
Please don’t ask me about the final strength yet as the angels will continue to take their share until the bottling day. Equally, I can’t confirm how many bottles will be released until we know exactly what is left in the cask. Please keep an eye on this page and I will provide an update as soon as bottling takes place.
Finally, a video of the selection will be posted on to www.glenfiddich.com in the next few days.
Best regards,
Ludo
PS: Keep scrolling down for more pictures of the selection day.
Responses to "2008 vintage selection (part 2)"
mysecurity | June 12, 2008
Guys, I'm new to this but, I have been tasting over the last 2 years or so, and here are my findings!
12yo - my bread and butter of whiskey, my baseline, my measure of all others
15yo - very nice if I can afford it! Preferred choice over 12yo
18yo - probably the best, good price taste ratio, if I have the money then this is my 1st choice
21yo - for special occasions, not as satisfactory as 18yo but bloody close, v.tasty overall
30yo - a bit of a let down, too expensive and too un-insipring - one for the collection to show off
1991 cooper - good price, heavy toffee fav, drunk too quickly!
15yo disterilly edition - a nice dram, nice kick, will save this one!
12yo toasted oak - nothing special here, an edition but that is all